Estonian green startups Ari Care and SMAGRY are on a mission to make the world more sustainable. Part of the journey is making it to the global finals of ClimateLaunchpad – the world’s biggest green business competition.
Ari Care is a new bright star in sustainable personal care products. It all started when Ari Care’s initial CEO, Kelly Antropov, noticed the massive amount of trucks carrying body and home care products, while on a family road trip. What really kicked off the idea was the realization that those same bottles contained roughly 90% water.
Ari Care is primarily the custom patentable technology to manufacture active ingredients for body care and cleaning products in powder form, to make the product usable, tap water would be added at the place of consumption. They are selling powder-to-foam refillable hand wash in Estonian retail but going to the B2B and Horeca market, producing white-label products. Their solution minimises water usage from production, plastic waste from packaging and CO2 emissions from transport.
“ClimateLaunchpad is so much more than just a business competition. It has taught us not only how to pitch our solution but also how to run a successful business. Another big reason why ClimateLaunchpad is so great is the people. We met the most wonderful and inspiring like-minded individuals. It really feels like we are part of a community, and that is very motivating,” said Merilyn Kesküla, CEO of Ari Care.
SMAGRY is paving the way for sustainable agriculture. Our future depends on soil and the balance of fertilization is key to producing enough food for our growing population. In order to solve that, SMARGRY has created a soil health management platform that implements the best precise agriculture practices. The platform helps farmers by tracking soil nutrient profiles and recommending fertilization based on soil and crop type.
SMAGRY strongly believes that sustainable agriculture is the way of the future and that precision farming is the first step on this path.
“ClimateLaunchpad has been such an incredible ride for us. It helped us validate our idea and take the next important steps necessary for our business. The mentors have played a really big role in our success in the competition. We’re happy to take all the knowledge we have acquired and use it to develop our business even further after the final,” mentioned Evelin Halling, CTO of SMAGRY.
Both Ari Care and SMAGRY got their boost from the green business competition ClimateLaunchpad which is led by Cleantech Estonia in Estonia. It all started in the national final. Then they pitched in front of an international jury for the first time in the Regional Final Europe. And now, they have left more than 1900 startups behind them and can count themselves among the 80 top-notch teams worldwide.
On October 27, the world’s top 80 cleantech startups from 59 countries, including Ari Care and SMAGRY, will pitch for one of the 16 spots in the Grand Finals. The Global Grand Finals will take place on November 3.
More information: https://globalfinal.climatelaunchpad.org/programme/
In Estonia, ClimateLaunchpad is organized by Cleantech Estonia. Financed by the Republic of Estonia, KIK (Environmental Investment Centre), and EIT Climate-KIC. Supported by Gren, Law Firm Hedman, sTARTUp Day, and Beamline Accelerator.
About ClimateLaunchpad
ClimateLaunchpad is the world's largest green business ideas competition which supports aspiring and promising cleantech entrepreneurs with training, coaching, and networking opportunities. Their mission is to unlock the world’s cleantech potential that addresses climate change.
For questions, please contact:
Katerina Chantzi, Project Manager of ClimateLaunchpad Estonia
katerina@cleantechestonia.ee
+372 537 179 21
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